For this review, I'd like to go through all the Rocky movies (including the most recent Creed) and talk about their good points and their bad points.

Rocky - The first one is obviously a classic and the best out of the series and made people like Sylvester Stallone a superstar. It takes a simple but touching story of the underdog boxer and rise to have a chance to be a champion.

Rocky II - I felt was kind of the same story and was a little cheesy but it still carried the spirit of the original.

Rocky III - Like the second one, was cheesy but it was entertaining. But I like how Rocky was doing more boxing and had more drama and Mr. T was a good villain even though he talked too much. Also it featured a great song, "Eye of the Tiger".

Rocky IV - Again like the two other sequels, cheesy but still entertaining and it had another great song "No Easy Way Out".

Rocky V - I know this one disappointed a lot of fans but I thought it was okay but I can understand why people didn't like it but I don't think it deserves to be hated.

Rocky Balboa - Was redeeming and I like how it has a lot of references to the first Rocky.

Creed - Finally, this one was another great comeback for Stallone as Rocky and gave Michael B. Jordan his big break as well.

But you can't beat the original because it's the first and a classic, like I said before. But I'm still looking forward to the sequel to Creed next year.

If you think Sylvester Stallone has made nothing but stinkers you just have to see 'Rocky'. This is a brilliant film, based on Stallone's own screenplay, where he plays a complex character in such a terrific way it is not strange people thought this was going to be a great actor. Compare it to another great film about a boxer, 'Raging Bull', and 'Rocky' will be better at some points. It goes without saying that it's quite an achievement.

The story is about Rocky Balboa (Stallone), a boxer who once had a glorious future, but now fights for little money in gyms. Then, out of the blue, he gets the chance to fight the heavyweight champ Apollo (Carl Weathers), a stunt from his side. Although Rocky seems to have no chance he starts his training to make the best of it, although at first he is too proud to accept any help. The scene where he finally accepts the help from his old trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith) is one of the best scenes in the film. Rocky also starts dating the very shy girl Adrian (Talia Shire), sister of his friend Paulie (Burt Young).

'Rocky' is a terrific film in every aspect. The acting is what amazed me the most. Stallone gives such an impressive performance it is very hard to believe he is also the star of films like 'Over the Top', 'Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot' and 'Judge Dredd', and from the other 'Rocky'-films for that matter. Not only Stallone is impressive, Shire, Young and Meredith find perfect notes for their characters as well. Every little thing that happens seems natural through their acting and of course Stallone's screenplay does a great job here. Director John G. Avildsen serves this material the way he should. Of course he is no Martin Scorsese, 'Raging Bull' stays the better directed film, but he knows how to tell this story.

I do not like boxing very much, so a boxing-film is not something I would enjoy. But this is not a boxing-film, it is a film about a boxer. It tells about a character who happens to be a boxer running for a title. This is probably one of the points where the other four 'Rocky'-films fail and where films like this one and 'Raging Bull' and Clint Eastwood's 'Million Dollar Baby' succeed.

One of Stallone's first and finest feature film performances is as Rocky Balboa, a lonely, small-time boxer who gets by doing muscle work for a neighborhood loan shark. Everything about his life spells "underdog"-- he's even left-handed. He lives alone in a shabby apartment, and when he's not slowly being swept aside at the local gym, where even the trainer calls him a bum, he fauns over an introverted pet store clerk named Adrian.

He gets his first break when he's chosen at random by heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed, to take a shot at his title. No one thinks he can beat Creed-- not even Rocky. All Rocky wants is to be able to go all ten rounds with the champ, because no one else has. And in the final ten minutes of the film, Rocky finds out just how far he can go.

What's terrific about this movie is that it's about Rocky. It's not about winning; it's not even about fighting. It's about Rocky and his desire to get by in the world without being a bum. The sequels to this widely popular film have focused more heavily on the upcoming fight, whereas this story focuses on Rocky's life. He doesn't want to win; he just wants to survive and feel good about himself. That's what most of us want, and that's why this film is a classic.